Shaking off the dust and maybe start something new here?

Haven't touched this in a long time. Well technically I have but didn't really see to post anything during my time mostly because I wanted to (or at least tried) to focus my attention on papers for my teaching ESL certificate program.

So what have I tried to put on here? I wanted to discuss season 5 of Being Human pertaining to Facebook comments by "fans" who stopped watching the show because of a cast change that happened in season 4. (oh my spoilers for those who haven't watched it yet) One of the main characters died at the end of the 3rd season, 2 main characters died at the start of the 4th season, and at the end of the 4th season/beginning of the 5th another character got the boot. I was going to comment on how the writers didn't deliberately kill off all the characters that were removed from the story as actors and actresses have other projects that they are working on but got word that season 5 was the last one so there was no use in me publishing that post without some changes.

Second thing I was thinking of putting on here was advice on choosing people to work in your group for a group project. That came from me actually being in a group when one person disappeared for about a week without notifying the rest of the group. I was kind of pissed that he didn't tell any of us or the instructor of the course that he was going to be away for a long time but when he came back he apologized for being away. I didn't ask why but he could have been out somewhere where he had not access to a computer or a Wi-Fi signal. In the end he got kicked out of the group and had to do the project on his own but I think he expected that.

So what ideas do I have now? I guess I can summarize my semester but it will probably be me raging out against one course I didn't quite enjoy and complaining about how much work I had to do. I wouldn't call that exciting. What is somewhat exciting is I will be taking an intensive beginner course in Arabic over the summer (I'm sure it will be on as there are a number of people on the roster to make it so).

Arabic? Isn't that a hard language to learn?
I'm a native English speaker (mind my carelessness as I type). I say English is a hard language to learn. Even if it is a global language. Maybe some of you think that Arabic is hard to learn because it uses a different writing system and sounds nothing like English. Well Arabic does use a different writing system and it sounds nothing like English, even with English loans. Arabic has also given English a bunch of words such as 'alcohol', 'assassin', 'coffee' and more.

So I guess my next blog endeavour is to show how English is a hard language to some but easy to others. I'll be using whatever knowledge I know and whatever the internet has to say about it. Sure there are other places out there that do this, but this will be my approach. I will compare the writing systems, sounds, some grammar, and basic sentence structure. Anything I learn along the way I will add.

And now I must make that final push to finish off the semester.

No two universities are alike/my experiences so far

So I'm almost done my fall semester at Carleton doing their CTESL (Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language) program. Not sure what that is? I refer to you one of my earlier posts.

One thing I noticed with Carleton is some of their courses are full semester courses. That is the course you sign up for in the fall will be in that very same time slot in the winter. With that I have to suffer with doing an assignment over the break whereas if I was still going to MUN I would be lying on the couch all day watching movies or maybe trying to get through 1 season of a TV show.

Second thing is the way the schedule operates. I'm sure Carleton has those 3x a week for 1 hour courses but I haven't encountered them in my program so I am uncertain what courses they are (most of my courses at MUN were like that). My schedule at Carleton is filled with mostly two 1.5 to 2 hours courses (meets every Tues. and Thurs for example) with some once a week 2-3 hour courses (meets every Mon. evening). Maybe this is their preferred way of scheduling?

Anyway . . . one of the courses I have to take is a practicum which is basically learn and experience what goes on in a classroom. If you remember in elementary school (maybe some of you in secondary school as well) you may have encountered the student teacher who maybe helps you with your schoolwork or on occasion teaches a lesson. Apparently that is what I have become except my setting was in an ESL classroom.

Now I have two practicum placements for the whole year. I have already completed my first placement and can't wait for the day I get to "choose" (it's first to raise their hand that gets the location) my next one (maybe because I'll hope to encounter a Russian, Croatian, or maybe someone from Turkey). For my first placement I chose a literacy classroom. What is it exactly? Teaching how to read and write. The class I was in was for those who are 1) literate in their first language but the "alphabet" in their first language does not use the Roman alphabet, 2) are illiterate in their first language, or 3) come from an oral culture where there is no written form or a written form is not really used (kinda like situation 2). Who I encountered in my class (including the ones who got promoted to the level 1 ESL classes along the way) came from the following countries: Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Macedonia, Nepal, Bhutan (Nepali speaking person), Laos, and Burma/Myanmar (Karen people). From this bunch I think I may have an idea who I might expect to see in my next placement.

With the class I did my practicum in there was a routine: The students would write something dictated to them on the board then everyone would copy that into their journals/notebooks. Then the teacher would write something on the board, for example "Did you have a good weekend?" if it was a on a Monday and on another board write "Today there ____ ____ teachers and _____ students" to get them to practice their numbers. Usually the days I'm there the teacher would say something like after copying the first board raise your hand to let <insert my name here here> know you're ready but no one does that, they usually do so once they copied down everything. Not sure why they don't do it, maybe it's because they're more comfortable with the teacher or if they're thinking "I should copy down everything first" or "I need to copy everything". 90% of the time I would be thinking it rude to ask them "May I listen to you read what you have so far". Lesson learned there: assert yourself.

After the journals they would be doing some activity, whether it's a "fill in the missing letters" dictation or a worksheet. Sometime they would be learning something new whether it's through a 10 line story with related activities or a story from a handout. There were activities that would teach them certain concepts like "please speak slowly/louder", "please can you say that again?" I led a couple of activities as well and comparing the two I did I found it difficult to create one of my own versus organizing one that's already made. Also with leading activities it is to be expected that not everyone will be looking at you whether it's out of boredom or maybe they're still struggling with the first thing I said.

So that's what went down in my practicum placement. Someone else doing the same as me would have either a similar experience or something different. Anyway that's enough from me.

Your religion shouldn't speak for everyone who does not follow it

On advice of my doctor I should be sleeping by now as I'm typing this but I just recently heard about this woman in Ireland who died of a miscarriage. While still alive and in agony she wanted to terminate her pregnancy but was denied that because according to some law (at least I think it's a law from my understanding) the pregnancy could not be terminated because the foetus' heart was still beating and it can only be done if the woman's life is at risk. Clearly this woman's life was at risk but it didn't seem like it to the doctors.

Some thing to note: In Roman Catholicism, which happens to be the major religion in Ireland, there is the belief that life begins when Mr. Sperm comes into contact with Ms. Ovum. Yes, a bunch of cells that haven't developed into actual organs is considered to have a soul (cue 'Every Sperm Is Sacred'). I went to a RC high school growing up and no one was allowed to abortion in grade 11 and 12 biology for their presentations. I assume it has to do with that the topic is not in line with RC beliefs but on the other hand there's a lot of ethical mumbo-jumbo to deal with at the high school level. (On a side note evolution is taught because it's part of the province-wide curriculum but they remind students that creationism is what started it all.)

So basically my stance lies between "you run your own body so let me run mine" and "you're giving it up because you decided you don't want the baby anymore? Are you crazy?" Let me make this simpler: If the woman is in agony from the pregnancy or becomes pregnant from a rape it is the woman's choice whether or not she wants to go to full term or however long the foetus lasts in the womb (I had this belief even when I was still a practising Catholic). As for someone who wants to terminate her pregnancy because it's the wrong gender/has imperfections or has no real reason and just wants to end it, the decision is still hers whether or not to terminate the pregnancy as it is not my body and I cannot make the decision for her but I would offer to take in the child (provided that I am mentally sane to raise one) or at least suggest helping out couples who cannot bear children. If in the end she does not want to go through the pregnancy, it's her choice, not mine.

I'm pretty sure people have seen anti-abortion supporters (the reason behind my choice of words will be explained later) with their signs telling people to "choose life" along with a bible quote and pictures of aborted  foetuses. Quoting my friend (who happens to have a blog @ http://tseretniw.blogspot.ca/)

How can these people hold up signs saying "protect life" when they clearly don't care about the mother's

My thoughts exactly. If you say that you are protecting human life, and the multi-celled blob is considered human, then isn't the life of the mother just as important?

Also my friend's question happened to remind me of something that happened not too long ago. My parents had people over for dinner as they were helping out with cleaning up my grandmother's house (which she's selling by the way). They happen to be a couple with a 7-year-old boy who was a fountain of knowledge when it comes to telling about what he recently learned at school. At one point he asked what abortion is. It was either my mom or his mom that gave the answer. Can't really remember how they explained to him but one of the key words used to explain was "baby". If I were 7 years old again "baby" would signify something like Maggie Simpson and neither the multi-celled blob nor a foetus and this is what made him ask something along the lines of "why would the mom do that?" I think I tried to explain that foetuses do get killed in the womb in nature but that didn't turn out so well. Long story short: be careful when discussing or describing abortion to a kid. Even for a fountain of knowledge their world view is still quite limited.

Also for word choice using "baby" vs. "foetus" makes something easier to understand but at the same time generates images of someone of Maggie Simpson's age. Why I chose "anti-abortion" vs. "pro-life" comes from a quote from Penn Jillette:

Ethical means moral or proper which differs for every person, it's something to discuss. It's not an absolute. It just sounds nice, it's like 'pro-choice' and 'pro-life', I mean- c'mon! Everyone is pro-choice and pro-life. It's for or against abortion that your group is about -- Season 2, Episode 1 of "Penn & Teller: Bullshit"

 I am certain it's not just Roman Catholicism that advocates life begins when sperm and ovum and whatever their beliefs are should not mix with legal matters. Sure there are those who would stay true to their religion even if they die in the process of something like pregnancy but by allowing women to choose to have their pregnancy terminated or not, a woman can still choose not to terminate. By not allowing a woman to choose is pretty much saying "okay you have one choice and that is keep on going and it does not matter if you die in the process as long as the baby lives."

I'd ramble on a bit more but I need some rest.

Here are some articles:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/1114/1224326575203.html
http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/world/abortion-debate-reignited-in-ireland-after-woman-is-denied-an-abortion-in-hospital-and-dies.html?p=home&s=home

Commuter Etiquette 101

I travel to and from university by public transportation and there are some things that irk me when it comes to this.

First is the people who choose to stand on a but or a forced to stand on a bus. If you choose to stand on a bus you:

a. are getting off within the next two stops
b. have nowhere to sit
c. just gave up your seat and now have nowhere to sit

If you're not a. then do not stand next to the doors. This makes it hard for people to move through when the bus is not too crowded and even harder when it is packed.

If you are not someone who is watching their kid or chatting with a person who is sitting, move to the back of the bus or as close to the back you can get. This makes it easier for those who board the front of the bus to get in.

One way to create space is to put your bag(s) on the floor in between your legs but I can make the exception if the floor is wet.

Second thing that irks me is changing from the light rail to the buses. My problem is this:

The dots represent people and they tend to crowd around the entrance to where people get to the light rail. The "platform" is about the size of three accordion buses and chances are if your bus is the 3rd one in the line of buses it will leave once it has done its business. There's plenty of room on the platform and you'll see your bus coming much sooner than the people in the crowding around at the light rail entrance. My usual solution to this is to go around behind the bus shelter but even the crowd can sometimes block my alternate route so please spread out along the platform.

Those are my main issues. Other things to take note in general:

Don't swear or harass others or else you'll get kicked off the bus.
Don't blast your music too loud that people around you can hear it. Not everyone will like what you listen to and even if they do they might want some peace and quiet on the bus
Don't smoke on the bus. Even if you have an e-cigarette it still counts as smoking on the bus.
Don't cause any damage to the bus. If your public transportation system is owned by the city's government chances are you're wasting other people's tax dollars because you think the bus needed a makeover.
If you see someone that needs to sit at the front of the bus, do be courteous and offer your seat.

If there is anything you like to comment or add to this feel free to do so

Anyone remember these crazy dances?

As of my typing this the video for Psy's "Gangnam Style" is approaching 400 million views on YouTube. For anyone living under a rock here's the video:


And when something's this popular there's bound to be an abundance of parody videos related to how Oppan Gangnam Style sounds like "open condom style" or "open condom star", remixes of the elevator scene at 1:55 into the video, and pretty much the whole video being parodied like CollegeHumor's "Mitt Romney Style". What I believe to be the biggest aspect of the video is the dance where it's like he's riding on a horse.

That dance has got me thinking about other songs that had some sort of dance move associated with them. In reverse chronological order to how far back I can think of things (pretty much up to the early 90's as that when my generation started to walk and talk:

1. "Teach Me How to Dougie" by Cali Swag District (song contains explicit lyrics)
   
   If anyone can sort out any specific dance moves that teaches you how to dougie from the lyrics:
   "All I need is a beat that's super bumpin'
   And for you, you, you to back it up and dump it! 
   Put your arms out front, lean side to side
   They gon' be on you when they see you hit dat dougie right?" (lyrics obtained from here)
   ... and if that's not helpful I'm sure the video (or the maybe the guys can teach you in this video)
   
   
2. "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO
   
   The main focus is that shuffling dance move that happens from 3:40 to 4:11 (but it's done individually by other people throughout the video). Though the dance is older than the video I'm including it in part of the list with the new stuff. Here's a lovely instructional on how to do said shuffle.
   
   
3. "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" by Soulja Boy Tell'em
   
   Not sure if anyone still remembers this, 2007 was like 5 years ago, and I still think this song is annoying, Instructional Video here.
   
   
4. "Asereje" by Las Ketchup
   
   I'm not too familiar with the song but this came up when I asked the question in a chat room. As for the dance moves the appear to be quite simple (as I couldn't find an instructional video for this on youtube)
   
   
5. "Cha Cha Slide" by DJ Casper
   
   I first encountered this when I started university. Any dance party I was at this would be playing. The moves to this dance are basically the lyrics of this song.
   
   
6. "Macarena" by Los del Rio
   
   I think there are 2 versions of the song, but this video has the dance. I know I feel old if I can still remember this dance.

I was going to "Stop" by the Spice Girls but it's the chorus of the song that had the special dance moves, which were done only twice in the entire video.

As I said this is as far back as I can remember. Maybe people older then me can remember other crazy dances from there time. Enjoy.